prayer

I am safe in Divine Love’s assurance. I have the courage to face the ignorance and illusions within me and root them out. I allow the Light of Love to enter my mind and heart. Divine Love shines within me destroying anything false, transforming me from within.

Contemplation / Reflection

Three years ago I went through breast cancer surgery, chemo and radiation. My husband and a friend from Wisconsin sat in the hospital through the surgical procedure. Several friends kept me company through each and every chemo treatment. Sometimes they would sit with me for hours just quietly holding a foot or a hand, with very little conversation. It was an amazing, almost overwhelming demonstration of “Divine Love’s assurance”. The hospital chaplain made a point of standing by my side at each chemo session, saying a special blessing for my well-being. Another friend visited from Hawaii and accompanied me to every radiance (I prefer that term to radiation) session. He just sat in the waiting room quietly praying for my healing. I am, indeed safe in Divine Love’s assurance. When, through my own ignorance and illusions, I think of myself as unloving and unlovable, when I think I am unworthy of receiving such loving support, I need only to recall the amazing outpouring of Divine Love that surrounded and embraced me through that difficult time. The love I received from these angelic souls brought moving tears of joy and love through me. I witness how storms, floods, fires, or an epic event like 911 bring out Divine Love’s assurance. I see how strangers in a community come together in love and support of one another. I stand at the foot of our massive mountains, walk a beach beside the immense and powerful ocean, or sit in quiet meditation. No, I’m not perfect physically or emotionally. None of us is or we’d have no need to be here on this lovely garden planet at this time. But the perfection of Divine Love dwells in us all and so, perhaps we are, each of us, perfect after all. We need only the simple courage to be still and know.

Journey of Courage is now available as a free book.
You no longer need to wait for the Guiding Thoughts to be posted here daily–you may move at your own pace. This link will take you to the document in Dropbox; you may download it from there.

Become a Guest Contributor
If you think you might possibly like to be a guest contributor at some point for a future Journey (taking your next courageous step!), as Mary is doing now, please email me: susan@withpearls.com. We can talk. Smooth. Easy. No pressure. Just take that step and we’ll see how it goes from there.

Get your feet wet:Susanwithpearls has a new playspace. There is a whole ‘nother Journey of Courage happening here: https://journeys.withpearls.com/?affiliateId=bae2-0acc&discountId=172f-8ff7
This is new and different, so anything goes at this point. It would be a good time/place to test your own waters. Come in anonymously. Post a few days to the community. See how it feels. It is free, but you will have to sign up to access it.

Invite, welcome, and receive the effects of Divine Love now… and be truly grateful. Experience Divine Mind as you experience these effects; allow Divine Presence to confirm itself in your life, activities, and affairs.

Sharing

Here’s the sequence:

Youinvite and welcome Divine Love to enter your life, and be willing to let it operate in your life.

The final sentence of a prayer of Saint John Damascene says this, “But on me a sinner, show the wonder of Thy mercy; in this reveal Thy love for mankind, lest my wickedness prevail over Thine ineffable goodness and merciful kindness; and order my life as Thou wilt”. (emphasis mine).

When you sincerely invite Divine Love to enter your life, be prepared for your life to change. Anything that is not of, in, by, and through Love in your life will be turned upside down, emptied, burned away so that Love may enter purely.

I often say, “I have to remember that I asked for this”. If you are asking for Love, it will come. It may not (at first) feel warm and fuzzy. It may feel chaotic, tumultuous, confusing. Hang in there–that’s Love clearing you out. I recommend breathing a lot, and having some affirmation, prayer, or meditation that you can turn to in an instant to remind you to let go of everything. When you consciously participate in letting go in the moment, every moment, that makes Love’s work faster, and you can get through it (to the warm and fuzzy….) faster.

You: be truly grateful.

This is especially important to remember as/if you experience what I mention above. Be grateful for everything.

You: Experience Divine Mind as you experience these effects.

As often as you can, acknowledge Divine Mind working in your life. Especially after you have asked Divine Love to enter.

Look for instances of Love, acts of kindness, grace, beauty. Set your mind to seeing Love operating in your life. If you can, see everything as Love operating in your life.

Do your best. Find your gratitude, even if it’s by wrote, or by repetition, or totally in your head, or rehearsed. Say small “thanks” throughout the day. Do it for everything. Acknowledge. Acknowledge. Acknowledge.

This brings you more to be grateful for.

All of these add up to: allow Divine Presence to confirm itself in your life, activities, and affairs.

You lay the groundwork.

You set the stage.

You keep the channel clear for Divine Love to work in you and through you.

Divine Presence cannot confirm itself in your life, activities, and affairs unless you have done the work so that It wants to express itself in you and through you.

You create this pattern in your consciousness, which gives momentum to the energy behind the Presence of Love, which makes it easier (yes, it gets easier) to be in Love, allow Love, and experience Love’s confirmation of your hard work.

My consciousness is the gateway through which Divine Love flows, materializing my infinite Supply. I am now conscious of my own Inner Divine Presence—Infinite Love—expressing through me, providing me with the means to be aware, to understand, and to know It as my Self– more and more!

Sharing

For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. Therefore, I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them. (Christian Bible, Mark 11:23, 24)

I was thinking about the fig tree earlier today, (the verse immediately preceding the above, in which Jesus withers the fig tree on command…), and how it relates with abundance.

I am sure I am not the only one to ask, “how does this stuff (Jesus’ miracles) work“? Faith the size of a mustard seed…speaking…believing in one’s heart….believing you have received what you ask for…people puzzle over these, and how they work together (I don’t know of a better phrase), to accomplish such things as Jesus did. What does it take? How did He do it?

As an aside…has anyone ever wondered why Jesus withered the fig tree, instead of asking it to produce figs for him? I mean, if he can feed the thousands on a few loaves and fishes, he can make a fig tree produce figs, right?

One thing I realized, when thinking about the fig tree and the mountain, is that Jesus spoke directly to the fig tree and the mountain. Just like when He raised Lazarus from the dead–he spoke to Lazarus. He did not speak to God; he did not ask God to wither the fig tree; he did not say to his disciples, “ask God to move the mountain for you”; he did not ask God to raise Lazarus. This is a clue that I have never before considered. His directive is to speak, as though commanding, to the person, tree, mountain, or situation.

[Which, BTW, makes me wonder about the loaves and fishes…did he actually command them to multiply, and we just don’t get that side of the story? or was his prayer, and asking for God’s blessing of the loaves and fishes, the vehicle for that miracle?]

Having “no doubt” in the heart comes first–having faith, then the words. I think what actually happens, internally, is that when there is faith, everything else just flows naturally. Faith is the power: it’s the power behind the speaking, it’s the power behind the command; it’s the power to not even have to consider what to say or how to say it. Faith is the knowing confidence that directs words through you, so you don’t even have to think. When you have faith, you don’t need to formulate a command, it just flows out of you, because what you know in your heart (and here’s the kicker) is aligned with the Will of God, and when it flows out of you, it produces the results that you’ve spoken because those results are Divine Will.

And this is how it fits with Journey of Abundance: Aligning the consciousness with Divine Love brings a person closer to the Truth–Divine Will. When that person is aligned with Divine Love and Divine Will, those things materialize easily, naturally, and infinitely.

“I” am the vehicle through which Divine Love and Divine Will flow. This is how I “know” It as my Self–It comes through me, but is not me, but “I” must create the conditions for It to come through me.

Your Inner Divine-Love Presence Knows what you need or desire before you do. It is constantly providing you with ideas, material goods, situations, and interactions to fulfill all your needs and desires. Relax! and allow the Presence Within to supply you with everything you need.

Sharing

I’ve really been living in the space of this Guiding Thought.

I open my heart, and feel/think, “You know what I need…I trust You to put me in the right place, at the right time, and supply me with what I need to do Your work”.

The “issues” or “work” that I did on trust/faith/surrender over a period of about 5 years has shifted. In the past, I struggled with surrender; I doubted my faith; I questioned my trust. Now, I am relaxed. I simply open to whatever is going on, and surrender, trusting that it is the right place, the right time, and I am doing what I am supposed to do.

Lots of times, I am not “doing” anything other than what I would “normally” do. I am talking with a colleague, or paying for groceries, or waving a pedestrian across a crosswalk. But I am attuned, and that makes me different. In those mundane interactions, I share Divine attunement, and maybe that’s all I’m supposed to do.

I’m here for nothing more than to serve God, and to serve God by serving people. I don’t know what God needs me to do–how could I? But I know that if I live every moment in the faith and trust that I am doing what he needs me to do, then I have no needs or desires, and all I want is to stay in-tune with God every moment, so that I can be the mightiest, purest channel that I can be.

Welcome to the first of forty days focused on advancing our consciousness toward greater abundance! If you are new here: read and contemplate the Guiding Thought for a minimum of five minutes, then write whatever response comes to mind, for a minimum of five minutes. No filters, no judgment; just write. Let out whatever is in, and allow your consciousness to expand! Here we go!

Guiding Thought

Divine Love-Light is the Source of All. It is all good, all God. This Source is always seeking expression through me. My awareness of my personal identity with this Source provides me with infinite fulfillment and prosperity.

Reflection

I’d like to note, right off the bat, that today…day 1 of “Journey of Abundance”…I was contacted about taking on a bigger role with an organization I am involved with, and doing additional projects for them, with additional income included. Coincidence?

Second thing for today: this feels so good. The Guiding Thought feels so good. It is completely congruent with “where I’m at”. I feel reinforced and strengthened.

“This Source is always seeking expression through me”. This means that Divine Love-Light (the “Source”) seeks expression through me.

I have been saying this as a prayer:

May my life force be a vehicle through which God may enter the world, to love and serve all life.

This is what I mean by congruent with where I’m at. I want God (Love-Light) to flow through me. I want my “personal identity” to be filled with Divine Love-Light, so that “I” wholly identify with Divine Love-Light.

I have been saying this prayer for a long time, without a thought about It providing “me with infinite fulfillment and prosperity”.

It’s not a stretch for me to accept that being filled with Divine Love-Light, being a vehicle for Divine Love-Light, will provide me with fulfillment and prosperity. It’s a natural extension. It just makes sense.

Guiding Thought

Rely on your own Loving Presence to lead and guide you toward the meaning of healing. Seek the meaning of healing and allow it to frame all your activity and to give context to all your interactions. Though you may encounter disturbances throughout your daily activity, lay them at the feet of your own Loving Presence and continue to ask, “What is healing”? Your own Loving Presence directs you, as you listen in the stillness.

Reflection

Today is a step-by-step day. So much of this Guiding Thought feels immediately relevant…one piece at a time:

Rely on your own Loving Presence to lead and guide you toward the meaning of healing.

I think of my Loving Presence as that which connects me with God. Sometimes I feel like I cannot connect directly with God, and so my Loving Presence acts as an intermediary. Sometimes I feel open enough and worthy enough to communicate directly with (what I think of as) God, and so my Loving Presence becomes that relationship, without the need for an intermediary.

I commented to a friend earlier today that I have begun to trust–and rely on–the guidance and direction that I receive from my own Loving Presence/God. This has not always been the case. Have I been guided and directed in the past? Yes. Absolutely. Have I trusted it? Yes–even then, yes. But here’s the clincher: in the past, when I have trusted the guidance and direction, there was not so much at stake; somehow life was “easier”, so trusting was “easier”.

Now… there is a lot going on in the world. The energy is amplified. Emotions are amplified. There is more “good” and more “bad” visibly mixing–and not always in peaceful ways. For many people there is so much at stake. Whether it is belief systems, political systems, a way of life, integrity, ego, families, jobs, the future…whatever it is for each individual person…something big is at stake. So everyone’s self-interest (or perceived self-interest) is clashing.

Now, trusting the Loving Presence to guide and direct is not easy, because there is so much swirling, constant chaos. How does one slow down enough from all of this crap going on in the world to listen, to pay attention, to follow any guidance?

It is within this context that I can say, “I have begun to trust–and rely on–the guidance and direction that I receive from my own Loving Presence/God”.

I know that I am being guided. It is still hard for me to wrap my head around it, or to know exactly what to do or when to do it. But my faith and trust are stronger than they’ve ever been.

Seek the meaning of healing and allow it to frame all your activity and to give context to all your interactions.

Why? Why do this? Why seek the meaning of healing and allow it to frame all my activity and interactions?

Because sickness is Lovelessness. Sickness is separation. Sickness is apathy. These things permeate the world right now. It is up to us to eradicate them. How do we eradicate them? By seeking healing. Every moment. Every day. Every interaction. Seek Love. Seek Unity. Seek Care and Compassion.

Though you may encounter disturbances throughout your daily activity, lay them at the feet of your own Loving Presence and continue to ask, “What is healing”?

Today I have not “encountered disturbances”. Today has been one continuous disturbance. What is wrong with people? What is wrong with the World–with the United States in particular–that children are traumatized as families are torn apart?

This is not a time for attaching to these emotions. It’s a time to be aware. be alert. and seek healing.

I have laid these disturbances at the feet of my own Loving Presence through constantly reminding myself

I do not understand anything I see

These thoughts do not mean anything.

My meaningless thoughts are showing me a meaningless world.

I am upset because I see a meaningless world.

A meaningless world engenders fear.

God did not create a meaningless world.

All of this crap going on in the world is a mass purging. Vomit is not pleasant, but generally you feel better afterward. What we are experiencing is the vomit–and who knows how long this will go on. But see it for what it is, let it all out, and know that the vomit is not the end game–it’s just a way to get us to feeling better.

Your own Loving Presence directs you, as you listen in the stillness.

Just keep on with this. It can be difficult to listen in stillness when there is so much high-emotion going on everywhere, with everyone. It’s hard to get centered, hard to remain centered. Just do the best you can. Listen as best you can. Know that your own Loving Presence is directing you. All is as it should be (believe it or not). Do your best. Keep seeking. Keep going. Have faith, as you have never had it before.

Guiding Thought

To heal and be healed is to be aware, to understand, and to Know Wholeness. Thus, I seek Wholeness, Unity, Oneness within my own mind and heart, and in all my actions and affairs. I focus on uniting the fragments within myself, so that I see only Oneness, which is the Truth of my Self. As I Know myself as the Oneness that I am, this Truth reflects in the world around me, confirming what I Know through my experience and life activity.

Reflection

This is a difficult Guiding Thought; there’s a lot to it.

First, after several days of letting go of preconceptions of healing, today we are given a direction to take our minds: to seek Wholeness, Unity, and Oneness, so that we may be aware, understand, and Know Wholeness.

Wholeness is the healed state. Seeking Wholeness, thus, is healing.

This is not saying anything about what the experience of seeking wholeness is. Other than pointing us in a direction (to seek wholeness), the only other clue we get today is to “focus on uniting fragments”.

What do we do to seek Wholeness? What do we do to unite fragments? Are there mental things that we can do? Are there physical things?

These are questions that will bring about the very first step: awareness. To heal and be healed is to be aware…

There are things that I do, personally, that I believe assist me in seeking Wholeness and uniting fragments. Foremost, I believe that Love is always a good place to start–it is the great Unifier. There are meditations, music, chants that cultivate a feeling of Love, Peace, or Harmony. When there is a genuine, heartfelt feeling of Love for another, all ideas of separation go away; it’s like through Love, a person’s True Self can be seen, and that True Self is the same as the one looking at it.

Since the Journey began with a clean slate, and a renouncing of preconceptions associated with healing, I am going to employ this same tactic today. Thus, today, I release all ideas, memories, thoughts, or beliefs about what I think I should do to seek Wholeness. I release all ideas, thoughts, and beliefs about what I should think or do to unite fragments. I choose to be aware of my process. I choose to speak to Divine Love and Light, and declare my intention to learn of Its ideas for ways I should seek Wholeness and unite fragments.